19 replies so far

I would think if your motors were “Drip Proof”, open them to replace the bearings and then let them dry out before reassembly. It might be the solution for all the motors. I wouldn’t even think about starting them until they are dry…... Jerry (in Tucson)

Let them dry out for a long time. We are recovering from Hurricane HArvey and I have many friends who’s air conditioner was submerged for 2-10 days. They were dried out completely and than they were running again. Important to note that in both cases, insurance totaled the air conditioner and they will be buying new. Might see if your insurance can help in these cases.

Homeowners doesn’t cover flooding, at least not in this part of the country. We do have National Flood Insurance, but that can take a really long time. If I can get my stuff up and running again, that would be vastly preferable.

You’ll need to remove dirt from the floodwater.This can be done fly flushing componentswith clean water if the flood was a freshwaterflood. If you don’t want to do that, disassembleas much as you can and thoroughly clean withbrushes, compressed air, mineral spirits toget the grime off. Then you’ll have to dry everything thoroughly.

How old is your equipment? The insulation pads between windings and between winding and the core nowdays is plastic that withstand water well. Older meterials were asbestos paper or paper soaked with resins that will be permanently damaged by water, also water likely brought all kind of deposits between the coils and it is impossible clean it completely. Those deposits will damage the wire insulation once the vibration starts. So file your federal insurance claim even if you manage to start thr equipment.

Homeowners doesn t cover flooding, at least not in this part of the country. We do have National Flood Insurance, but that can take a really long time. If I can get my stuff up and running again, that would be vastly preferable.

- TheWoodNerd

I congratulate you on that, the news is reporting that 80% of the folks din’t have that coverage. Even so, will it be 100% replacement? BTW, the disassemble, clean, dry and lube (and reassemble) is the approach I’d take. I sshould add, while I have taken wet motors apart, I’ve never been flooded…so I’m not speaking from actual experience.

I’m a New Orleans native and have had my fair share of flooded shops! I’ve been lucky enough to only lose one motor to flood, the rest were salvageable thru cleaning, new bearings etc. To be fair the one that I couldn’t get to run right was really old and never was great to begin with, so I just replaced it.

I highly suggest just buying new bearings now, don’t try and save the ones that are in there. Not worth the hassle really.

Not sure it will work in this instance, but there are cleaners for electronic equipment that come in an aerosol. It’s still a lot of work as you would need to disassemble the motors and switches, but it should remove grim, grit and oxidation that accumulated. Sorry you’re having to deal with this.